by Veersen Bhoolai,

July 1, 2024

 

One of the perks of being a sports journalist

is that you sometime get to meet or interview

your boyhood heroes.

 

Such was my opportunity last month as

Gus Logie patiently gave me over three hours of his time in a telephone interview speaking from Bermuda.

 

An entertaining batsman and arguably the greatest fielder of his era, he was a member of the legendary, undefeated WI team of the 80s and early 90s; he reflected on his career, his extensive coaching experience and some of his cricketing highlights.

 

At first glance the statistics might reflect an above average Test career at best. However, they do not point out the intangibles such as having to come in at number 6 in one of the greatest batting lineups known to man, having to get runs quickly for the sake of the team and potentially sacrificing your own wicket and personal glory, the pertinent innings that saved his team on more  than one occasion, nor brilliant fielding that augmented many a bowlers credit column.

 

Born in the tiny village of Sobo in South Trinidad, not too far from the La Brea Pitch Lake, he was the last of 10 children – five boys and five girls.

 

After the ninth child had been born, the Logies decided that was enough. “Yet somehow, five or six years later, I was born. My mother used to laugh and say I was godsent. I had to steal my sisters’ and brothers’ godparents,” he laughs. There were actually 13 children but three died during their early infancy.

​

He describes Sobo as a nice village during the 60s and 70s. “We were like a family. They say it takes a village to raise a child.

 

“We weren’t middle class, but we weren’t poor. We had a roof over our heads, a fruit tree and goats. We would pitch marbles, pick and roast nuts, go to the Pitch Lake and swim in the ponds.” He continues, “We would go on a Saturday and not tell your Mum because you had chores to do. You would think you had enough time to before Mum came back but sometimes you didn’t, and you got a good spanking.”

 

Logie’s father died when he was nine and he credits older brother Felix as a father figure and one of his heroes outside sport. “He was one of the progressive young men in the village. He didn’t smoke or use abusive language. He was a Texaco apprentice. He led the way for me in the way he carried his life, upright, honest and helping out at home. I held him in high regard, even up to today.”

 

   Running, Bowling and Batting with Courage

 

His prowess as a sportsman was quickly recognized at the La Brea Primary School. He was talented at cricket, athletics and football. “The Sports teacher, Mr. Augustine Pascal wanted guys with big calves for the football team. He would make us bend down and touch our calves. I was small so you know what my calves looked like. I played in the forward line.

 

“I was an ardent cricketer and spin bowler. At the age of 12, I was playing for Texaco Brighton in the Third Division with those big guys.”

 

Both he and fellow villager, Wlifred Debisette were sent to Pt. Fortin for the Wes Hall Youth Trials. He explains that William Guadeloupe would have about 60 players and for the first two weeks you didn’t see a cricket bat. You would be running and fielding. After one week, quite a few players fed up with the lack of cricket would drop out. “As one player put it, ‘I want to play cricket, I don’t want to be no athlete.’” After two weeks and a severe thinning of the herd, Guadeloupe then had a better idea of who was committed.  

 

Strangely enough one of the most dashing WI batsmen of the 70s and 80s was an off spinner at the U 19 level. He explains that he was actually an allrounder. “In one U19 game I got nine wickets. I always had batting ability. But because I was small, I never got an opportunity to bat early. Mr. Guadeloupe recognized my batting ability. The big guys were bowling quickly, my heart was pounding. When the ball hit the seam on the concrete pitch, you would see the white mark. You had to man up. I wore flimsy gloves and no protection, no helmet, no chest guard. When the ball hit the seam, you had movement, if it hit you, it printed on your leg. The coaches saw someone brave enough, who had a lot of courage.”

 

                                                         Texaco Brighton to the Core

 

Amazingly, he played his entire club career in TT for Texaco Brighton in the Second and Third Division, refusing to play for the bigger clubs.

This decision was based on the character and discipline he adhered to for his entire career. He explains that there was not much interest in the young country boy when he was scoring runs, so he stuck it out with the club he started with.

 

He elaborates, “I never played for another club.” During the late 70s Brighton was playing against the Caroni Warriors at the Queen’s Park Oval for promotion to the Second Division. “The match lasted five or six days due to rain.

 

“Many people saw me. A barman came up to me and shook my hand. He said, ‘You will play for WI one day.’ I said ‘Thank you.’”

 

Logie says an enquiry was made by “somebody” regarding if he could play for the Queen’s Park CC. “This had been done before for Richard Gabriel.” Gabriel from Pt. Fortin had moved to POS to attend St. Mary’s College while still in his teens. “Although I had no intentions of leaving South, Paul Clarke, a teacher at Progressive School was adamant that I could come there as an aspiring cricketer. Because of the distance from Sobo to POS, the QPCC official said it would not work.” He continues, “About two years later when I made the National Team, the same people said ‘Well you can play for QP now. I said, ‘Well the distance has not changed.’” He laughs, “I don’t think they ever forgave me for that.”

 

During the WI 1981/82 tour of Australia, Logie sat next to Frank Tyson at a dinner. “Someone from Queen’s Park had sent Tyson a letter and said that this guy never played First Division Cricket but he’s on the WI team. Tyson said to me ‘You had to be good to do that.’”

 

He explains that he managed to maintain a decent level of cricket due to the zonal competitions in Trinidad. “At youth level I played for Southwest. One year we won the competition, and I was pivotal to that. At Senior level I also played in the zonal competitions. I played against North and Tobago. I am still very friendly with those fellas. I also played in the Beaumont (Cup now known as the Gerry Gomez Classic), I scored a century vs North.”

 

                                                                     Coming from Behind God’s Back

 

However, it was not an easy road. He remembers having to take public transportation from the South to POS with other talented youngsters at the time to the National Senior Trials at the QPO. There were about five or six of us travelling, Sham Jumadeen, Wilfred Debissette, Innis Gabriel (Richard’s younger brother). We had to take passage to POS. If you had a cricket bag, not many cars wanted to stop. Drivers didn’t want to get out of their car to open the trunk. The fancier cars could flip a switch and open it. You had to find your way to POS. My mum was not young and she could not be running around. But this did not discourage me. I will always owe her a great deal. She would say ‘Life holds no guarantees. Make sure you have something to fall back on.’ I used to tell her ‘My bat will mind you. Don’t worry I will be an important person in the village.’” She would respond, “’Life holds no guarantees. It’s nice to be important. But it’s more important to be nice.’

 

“My mother’s influence on my life has been quite evident. She taught me to be God fearing and kept my feet on the ground by her many timely inventions. She would say, ‘Never envy anyone for what they have. Always believe and work hard and you will get yours.’”

 

Logie continues, “Sometimes you were taking the taxi from Independence Square to the QPO, and you had to hold the gear between your legs and when you got there your legs were stiff. You were heckled because you came from the South. People said you coming from behind God’s back.” He remembers, “One day in Independence Sq., we saw Alvin Corneal, and he said something that inspired me. ‘Maybe one of you might make it. Maybe the Logie guy.’ There was no malice, but it did deflate the other guys. I felt good but badly for my teammates.”

 

He admits that in his very first First-Class game as a reserve fieldsman vs Guyana in 1978, he was less than spectacular. A heckling spectator made a comment that may have been the impetus for creating the finest fieldsman of the late 20th century.  “I misfielded a ball that went though my legs at the boundary and went for four. There was a very popular Calypso at the time Norman is that you? (about a gay man in feminine dress). I heard a spectator shout out, ‘Norman is that you?’ The crowd laughed and if I could have opened up the ground … I vowed I would never misfield another ball. “

 

From the late 70s throughout the early 80s his form was undeniable. It was obvious that the diminutive Southerner was special. A sign of things to come was his 163 against Young England for the WI Youth Team at home in 1980.

 

He then scored his maiden FC century for TT vs Barbados top scoring with 125 vs a vaunted attack of Joel Garner, Malcolm Marshall, Sylvester Clarke and Collis King at the QPO in January of ’81. His prowess was not lost on the Selectors, and he was selected for the 1981/82 tour of Australia along with fellow first timers, Jeffrey Dujon and Harold Joseph.

 

                                                                                                   Representing a Diaspora

 

His maiden tour did not get off to a good start, “I missed my first flight due to a lack of information.” Under the impression that his ticket would be there at the Piarco Airport waiting for him, imagine his surprise when there was none. “My ticket was in a gentleman’s office, Dr. Mootoo. I missed my connecting flight to England. The players not knowing the circumstances were asking me ‘How could you miss your flight on your first tour?’ I simply took the blame and apologized.”

 

He describes the experience as “fantastic. “Trainer Dennis Waight had them put in hours of hard work. Clive Lloyd took Logie, Dujon and Joseph out for dinner at the beginning of the tour, “He explained that professionalism wasn’t just about being paid. It was about setting high standards.” Logie continues, “He lay down the rules. As blacks you were representing not just yourself but your community, a diaspora, the people in England who can’t look their bosses in they eye, the people in the subway station in New York. You gave them pride. You wanted respect at the end of the day. To get respect you had to be winners. To me, that is what it was all about, teamwork and winning it, sacrificing for the team. We bought into that.” He emphasizes that is how he and his teammates played the game. They were prepared to sacrifice for the team. Today as a coach he tries to impart this knowledge to the younger plays “but they do not accept it.” He adds, “Gordon Greenidge was my roommate for a few years, many times I was not in the First Eleven. I would say ‘Man you bat and I will field. Greenidge would make some runs and limp off and I would field. I would run out and take a catch. So, I represented the team like a super sub.”

 

                                                                             Topping the Region and Heading the Pack

 

During the 1982 and ’83 FC regional season he continued to flourish with the bat. He scored what would be his highest FC score, 171 vs Jamaica in TT in 1982. The Jamaicans were captained by Lawrence Rowe and their bowling attack spearheaded by Courtney Walsh.

 

His fine form continued in 1983 as he topped the regional batsmen scoring 540 runs with a top score of 138 vs the Windward Islands.

 

His performances enabled him to elbow his way past the other very talented contenders, Faoud Bacchus, Thelston Payne and Richie Richardson to secure a place against the touring Indians that year.

 

                                             Facing Gavaskar and Venkat’, A Surreal Experience

 

His was run out on 13 on his debut at Kingston. “I was disappointed, as I was now starting to look good. The Second Innings was like a T-20 game.” The WI were set 172 runs to achieve in approximately 90 minutes. “But we had no limitations. We had the never say die attitude of the players. Andy Roberts set it up. We needed to get five wickets and we got them out. When we went back in, we asked Viv {Richards} ‘Are we going for it?’ He said ‘Of course we are going for it.’”

 

Coming in at the fall of Viv Richards’ wicket, with five wickets down, 16 runs needed and time running out, hit his first two balls for a 6 and 4 before he was eventually out for 10. WI reached their target for the loss of six wickets.

 

It was on to his home ground, the Queen’s Park Oval for the Second Test. As Logie walked out for his maiden Test innings in front of his home crowd, it was a surreal sight, as a jam packed QPO of approximately thirty thousand chanted “Logie! Logie!” His innings was short lived as he was caught off the bowling of Venkataraghavan for 12.

 

He admits it was a surreal playing against Sunil Gavaskar and Vekat’, as just about a decade before he had watched them as a schoolboy.  His memory of the TT Test is vague. He does however, remember that two men in the crowd had made a bet. One bet the other that Gavaskar would score more runs than Greenidge and Desmond Haynes combined. When Gavaskar was out for 1, the guy paid his money up front, not even waiting for the WI to bat. To everyone’s surprise, the WI were tottering in their First Innings at1/3 with both Greenidge and Haynes dismissed for duck. “The guy who had paid, looked for the other guy but he had left.” For the record Larry Gomes and Clive Lloyd repaired the damage, putting on 237 for the fourth wicket, a record at the time for the fourth wicket vs India. The WI eventually drew the match.

 

In a rain filled encounter at Bourda during the Third Test, Logie failed to score in the WI’s only innings.

 

                                     Tough luck for Faoud Bacchus and Thank You Venkataraghavan

 

He was replaced by Faoud Bacchus for the Fourth Test. However, the Gods would smile upon him on the first day’s play. Mere minutes before the start of play, Bacchus whilst warming up, injured his hand. Logie came in at the last moment. Early in his innings, he was dropped by Venkataraghavan off Ravi Shastri whilst on 7 and would go on to score a splendid maiden Test century in the First Innings. “The ball hit the top of the bat handle and lobbed to Venkataraghavan at slip. It went straight through him. I said God was on my side. Had he caught it, that could have been the end of my Test career. I got confident. When it’s your day, you have to make the best of it.”

 

Upon making his century, his next two scoring shots were sixes, he hit an additional four before being out on 130. To many he seemed to have a rush of blood. However, he explains, “We were told that we would declare at tea. People may not have known that, but I was batting under instructions.”

 

It would not be the last time that a declaration would affect his innings. He explains that on a tour of England in 1984 he was on 94 no vs Middlesex “And we declared. A hundred at Lord’s would have been ideal. However, at the end of the day, we won the game, so you felt vindicated.”

 

Taken to India at the end of 1983, he had a poor tour; however, he performed in his solitary game against the Australians in early ’84.

 

Brought in to replace an injured Clive Lloyd for the Second Test at POS, he scored a wonderful 97, consisting of 10 fours. “It was one of my better innings. It was composed. It is unfortunate that I was out lbw to a left arm over the wicket bower, Tom Hogan. In today’s world, we would have reviewed it. It pitched outside the off stump. I would have gone on and scored a century.” He put on a sixth wicket stand of 158 with Jeffery Dujon. He points out that the both of them would have many useful partnerships during their Test career. Dujon would go on to score 130 in that match.

 

                                                       Dripping Wet, Down and Out but Honest

 

If fate had been kind to him in Barbados a year before, such was not the case as the WI headed to Barbados for the Third Test.

He explains that due to “negligence” he was informed by the TTBC late in the evening that he would depart for Barbados the

next day. Working at the Antilles Credit Union, “I had to organize myself for an early morning flight. I left home at 4 am and

had to walk about 600 yards to the main road with my bags. It was raining, I had no shelter. I was soaked. I went to the

airport in the vehicle dripping wet.

 

“I arrived in Bim with a fever. I was down and out. However, the team is first.” He explained his situation to management and

“Richie Richardson came in {as a replacement}. It was about being honest. In today’s world, it’s the other way around.” He

adds that there are players who would remain silent so that they could play, simply thinking of themselves, not the team.

 

Thus, Richardson stepped in and scored 131 followed by 151 in Antigua.

 

However, his 97 was good enough to include him on the tour of England later that year. Although not playing in any Tests, he did manage 585 runs (73.12) on tour.

 

                                                             ‘Go Ahead and Break Me’

 

Just before going to Australia in 1984/85, the TTT Sports Department had tried to interview both Larry Gomes and Logie. They mentioned that Logie had refused to do the interview.

 

Almost four decades later he recounts the incident. “TTT just showed up at my house asking for an interview. I never promoted myself, I was just part of the team. They just show up at your door, to bully you and to say things I didn’t want to say. That is not the way I do things. I remember the response from the {TT Reporter} ‘The media can make you or break you.’” Logie’s response was “‘Ok go ahead and break me if you want.’”

 

He continues, “They were never respectful of who we were. I was a guy from South, a nobody. It was say what we want, do what we want. I had played for the WI before. I had spoken to them before, since 1981. They created their own timing and spoke to you when the felt like it. They had their own agenda; they had their own players who they felt could go on the squad.”

 

The retirement of Lloyd after the 1984/85 tour of Australia seemed to open up the door for Logie in terms of a regular slot on the side. However, his returns from 1985-1987 were modest at best. In the meantime, he had cultivated a reputation as a very good ODI batsman and the finest fieldsman in the world.

 

He had a successful tour of India in 1987/88 scoring his second and last Test century 101 in the Third Test in Calcutta hitting 15 fours. He averaged 41.66 on the tour. Regarding the Calcutta century, “It was a nice wicket. It was a relief to get there, having been so close. It was a monkey off my back. I had only scored one hundred and I always had to hear that. However, batting at number six and playing to win, you had to hurry up sometimes and you could run out of partners. It was really a relief. It was a workmanlike innings against the challenge of good spin bowling.”

 

                                                          A Career of Two Halves

 

Logie’s Test career seemed to be a study of two halves, from 1983-87 he was a dashing batsman, perhaps a bit overzealous and not

as consistent as his temporaries. However, during the latter half from 1988-1992, he seemed to temper his aggression and was

certainly more consistent, holding his place in one of the most powerful line ups in history. From 1983-87 he played 13 Test

matches, scoring two centuries and three half centuries (30.25). However, from 1988-91 he played 33 matches (38.76) and hitting

13 half

centuries.

 

He reiterates that in the first few years, he was batting for the team and people may have misunderstood his aggression. However,

in later years, “I was a senior member of the team. It was more about responsibility than anything else. You mentor the younger

players and try to lead by example. You make sure that you understand your role and that others are being nurtured.”

 

                             A Fantastic 1988, Success at the Mecca and the Phil Simmons Disaster

 

His most successful year was undoubtedly 1988. He topped the averages on the tour of England hitting 364 runs in his five matches (72.8), scoring two half centuries both at cricket’s Mecca, Lord’s.

 

Coming in at 50/4 during the First Innings at Lord’s, he hit 12 fours in his half century eventually being caught out for 81. He was stranded on 95 no (12 fours) in the Second Innings as he simply ran out of partners. Not surprisingly, he was awarded Man of the Match.

 

“It was a fantastic series for me. The year before, I had played for Northern Cricket Club, and we had won the Central Lancashire League. I had had a good season with the bat and ball and was ready for the English conditions.” Although the WI would go on to win the series 4-0, he admits that in both innings at Lord’s, “We were in trouble.”

 

During the First Innings he and Jeffrey Dujon took the score from54/5 to 184/6 before Dujon was dismissed. They came together at 240/5 in the Second Innings and put on a 131-run partnership. “Jeffrey and I made our first trip together to Australia in 1981. We were a good combination and had to pull our team out many times. We had good chemistry. We worked really well together.”

 

There was one moment during the English tour that would leave an indelible mark on Logie for the rest of his career. Both he and Phil Simmons were at the wicket vs Gloucestershire. Offered light, refusing, they continued. Simmons was hit on the head; he was

knocked unconscious and for a while his heart stopped.

 

“I remember that moment quite vividly, I dreamt about it a few months ago. It was at Bristol and David Lawrence was bowling.

He had a difficult run up. He didn’t run in a straight line, sort of a zig zag. About 10 minutes before we were offered light. It was

a little gloomy. Phil was not wearing a helmet. When he got struck and I saw him falling down, I wondered did we make the right

decision?

 

“He was feeling numb on one side. It could have been very serious if we had been in any other part of England with that injury.

When I came home to the hotel, I spoke to my mum. She thought I had got hit. She said, ‘Please wear a helmet.’” Logie who had

never worn a helmet, says “From then on, I started wearing a helmet.” He wore the it sans visor until getting hit vs the

Australians in 1991 in the Caribbean. “Then I started using a visor.”

 

Simmons would go on to make a complete recovery and have a successful Test/ODI career.

 

His statistics for 1988, shows that he scored 738 runs from 12 matches (41.00), scoring five half centuries with a top score of

95 no.

 

He had been agonizingly out for 97 in front of his home crowd at POS vs Australia in 1984. Six years later again in POS, he was out

for a well played 98 (11 fours) vs England. Coming in at 27/4 which quickly became 103/8, he was the last man out caught Lamb

bowled Fraser in a WI total of 199.

 

Logie reminisces, “It was a difficult and somewhat controversial series due to some inconsistent umpiring and time-wasting situations.

I did not play in the First Test and the Second Test was rained out in Guyana. I returned for the Third Test in Trinidad with WI 1-0 down and the threat of a series defeat at home loomed large. Viv was absent and Haynes led the team.” He continues, “We were struggling, and I played a lone hand in the First Innings with some lower order support. Failing to get the hundred was disappointing but from a team perspective, it gave us a fighting chance. {Due to} some gamesmanship, bad light and coupled with an injury to their Captain Gooch, the Test was drawn. We won the next two in Barbados and Antigua.

 

                                           An Unforgettable Innings of Fortitude vs the Australians

 

During Australia’s visit to the WI in 1990/91, he displayed an innings of fortitude and guts in the First Test at Sabina Park that few who saw it will ever forget. Coming in at 69/4 with Haynes retired hurt, he was hit in the face while on nine. Haynes then walked out and did not last long.  Logie rejoined the innings at 166/8 with seven stitches under his right eye. He counter attacked, hitting 12 fours in his 77 no in a WI total of 264. In a match where David Boon and Richardson scored centuries, it was Logie who was awarded Man of the Match for his valiant innings. It was during the match that his mother passed away.

 

He explains there was “a little strife” in that particular innings, however, he did not wish to go into that particular match as it is covered in a book that was launched in late May. It is co authored by Doctor Olivia Rose and himself entitled Mattering in Sport.

 

99 isn’t Good Enough, the Team Comes First

 

Touring Australia as Vice Captain in 1992/93, he seemed to be suffering a loss of form, however, even being run out on 99 vs New South Wales just before the First Test was not enough to regain his spot which he lost to a very in form Keith Arthurton.

 

He describes it as “a very interesting situation. I had made a decision as VC to sit out.” He explains, there were three players to be considered, himself Arthurton and Jimmy Adams. The panel to make the final decisions was Captain Richardson, Logie as VC, Haynes, Coach Rohan Kanhai and the Manager, David Holford. “Coach Kanhai was close to Jimmy, having coached him in Jamaica. The Captain felt he wanted to keep Keith. I felt having done well against Australia in the Caribbean, I should have been given at least a First Test. I was recovering from a broken arm and still had a pin in my arm. It had restricted me. I felt I was ready.”

 

He continues, “I had a decision to make in the Selection Room.” He says Haynes would have supported him and the Manager was simply acting as a mediator rather than inputting an opinion. “I wasn’t in their thoughts for the First Test.” He could have mentioned his 99 just before the Test, however, “As a Captain you need to get what you want. I went with Richie for the betterment of the team. I could have broken the deadlock, I could have voted for myself,” he laughs. “Desmond Haynes would have supported me.” He emphasizes that he continued to subscribe to his belief that the team comes first.

 

                                                          Retirement and Life Post Cricket

 

Retained on the ODI squad, he managed only 158 runs from 15 innings (15.8) during the first three months of 1993. He was dropped and quickly retired from FC cricket. He admits that by excluding himself in the First Test vs the Australians, he had effectively ended his Test career.

 

He believed if he had continued, he could have perhaps regained his place on the Test team. However, upon contemplation, “The team had lost a bit of the discipline that we had had before. I mentioned this in my resignation. This was no slight on the players coming in; however, the discipline level was different from what I had known growing up.” He adds, “The team culture was waning a bit. It was more about the individuals; they did what they wanted to do. Sometimes players would miss meetings for different reasons, Training times would change. There was a brashness, the way they talked to each other in the team. There was a different culture developing in the squad with new individuals.” His Test stats read 52-78-2470-130-35.79, with two centuries and 16 half centuries.

 

The writing had been on the wall since the 1992/93 tour of Australia. Thus, with his career officially at an end just a few months later, he quickly transitioned to the next stage of his life. “In the early days, I had read a lot of books,” In preparation for a life post cricket. He moved on to Australia focussing his studies on Business Management and Public Relations. Whilst there he also played for the Prospect and Tea Tree Gully clubs. After a coaching stint with the Australian Cricket Association, he returned to the WI in the mid nineties.

 

He received an offer from WICB Executive, Steve Camacho to come back and coach the WI Youth team on its 1995/96 tour of Pakistan. He laughs, citing that a tour of Pakistan was a difficult assignment and perhaps no other Coaches were that anxious to go. “Had it been a tour of England, maybe I wouldn’t have been asked.

 

“I was asked to bring a sense of professionalism to the team. In general, they did well.” The WI beat Pakistan 2-0 in the Test Series and lost the ODI Series 1-2. He remarks that it was pleasing to see young men crying after the Series was won. Many went on to make the WI team, Gareth Breese, Reon King, Wavell Hinds and Mahendra Nagamootoo.”

 

Over the last 30 years he has coached quite a few teams around the world. A quick perusal would show that he has overseen teams such as, Canada (twice); the WI U-15; the WI Test team; the WI Women; Bermuda, Jamaica and Trinidad & Tobago.

 

He coached Canada to an historic victory over Bangladesh at the 2003 WC, qualified a very unfancied Bermuda to their first ever WC (2007) and was at the helm when the WI U15s won the WC in 1999. He coached the WI to the 2004 Champions Trophy, Jamaica winning the Four Day Regional title in 2011 and TT to successive regional 50 Over titles in 2015/2016.

 

                                             The Trials and Tribulations of Being a WI Coach

 

His tenure as WI Coach was not without some hiccups. Contacted during a break during the 2003 ODI World Cup in South Africa, he was advised by the Board to apply for the Coaching position. He was later informed that he would be the Assistant to Coach Bennett King. Just before the First Test vs the Australians in Guyana, Logie was told that King would not be coming. Information came back to him that King had wanted to select his own Assistant.

 

Announced as Interim Head Coach just days before the First Test in Guyana, he asked, “Seeing that I am the Interim Head Coach, who is my Interim Assistant Coach. I got a blank stare. Some people told me ‘They are giving you a basket to hold water.’”

 

Logie explains that the previous tour of South Africa had not got gone well. Carl Hooper had been replaced as Captain by Brian Lara.  “I inherited a team that had issues stemming from their poor World Cup showing and the subsequent leadership change that did hot have the full approval of some players. {There were also} some that players that did not make themselves available and {some} who were not friendly terms with others. I tried to mend some fences off the field.

 

“Their last meeting in SA had lasted two minutes. I was told that if my first meeting lasted two and a half minutes, I would be breaking a record.” The meeting actually lasted more than two hours as Logie attempted to impress his team philosophy. “We sat in a room toing and froing on how we wanted to play and the standards we set. It went well.” Some of the info shared in that meeting “was the basis” for his first book, Building Champions.

 

Regarding the challenges of his job, he points out the Guyana Test vs Australia. Opening batsman, Wavell Hinds, substituted behind the stumps for a lot of the Test as Ridley Jacobs was injured. “I said to him ‘If you want to be pushed down the order because you have been keeping for so long, you can drop down because Darren Ganga can open.’  Hinds reminded me, ’Coach, remember what you said, Team First.’

 

“He didn’t do as well as he could have. The Selectors never understood his sacrifice. Once you fail, they want to get rid of you not knowing what transpired in the team environment and not wanting to, they said he failed. That is when you get people saying, ‘I am going to play for me and I will stay there.’”

 

He continues, “I was Interim Coach and therefore, could not be a Selector. However, I was supposed to advise the Selectors on the philosophy of the team going forward. I needed their support in doing so by giving some young players an extended run to achieve the desired results. They {the Selectors} did not buy into such.”

 

                                                            Brian Lara, a Genius

 

He had a chance to work alongside Captain, Brian Lara, who he describes as “an exceptional individual.”

 

He expounds, “People talk about him being a genius. He knows what he can do. I knew he was going to break his own record again when he lost it to Hayden. He is a special individual. His captaincy was adventurous. He saw what others didn’t and I had to give him his space. We didn’t always agree on the team direction but the Captain gets what he wants.”

 

Playing for a legendary team during the eighties and early nineties, he was a fieldsman nonpareil on a team of outstanding outfielders. The forward short leg position practically became his personal territory. He was the first man to win Man of the Match in an ODI without bowling or batting, taking three catches and two run outs vs Pakistan in Sharjah in 1986.

 

                                                            Rubbing Shoulders with the Greats

 

Having rubbed shoulders with some of the finest regional/international players of his era, I sought his opinion on a few.

 

Gordon Greenidge: “A great competitor. He was my roommate for quite a few tours, then enough was enough, I needed a change. He was a tough opener.”

 

Larry Gomes: “Mr.; Dependable. He would produce the goods. He went through some patches. He was a quiet an achiever, soft spoken and easy going.”

 

Sunil Gavaskar: “Being short in stature, he was possibly the most complete and composed opener I ever saw. He had grace, poise and great balance at the crease. He had an appetite for big scores.”

 

Allan Border: “He possessed a tough mental approach, not a great stylist but he had an effective and steely resolve, especially when his team was in trouble. His record speaks volumes.”
 

Rangy Nannan: “One of the better off spinners in the region. He was very unfortunate to play only one Test, he was much better than that. He worked very hard to achieve his success.” He continues, “I feel for Rangy; he didn’t get his just dues. I am happy to see his sons doing well.”

Malcolm Marshall: “He was a very astute individual; a brilliant exponent of the art of fast bowling, he had a lot of variations. He was one of the thinkers on the team when it came to strategy. He was a joy to watch.”

 

Kelvin Williams: “Kelvin and I had many battles. He was a big hitter, a nice pace bowler. When we played in the Central Lancashire League (1987), he played for Middleton and I for Norden. Many times, when Middleton met Norden, people said it was Williams vs Logie.”

 

                                            

                              A Fearless Shot Maker and a Great Ambassador for the Game

 

Former WI pacer, Tony Gray, says, “I think he was an excellent batsman to make the WI team at that time. He was fearless. He seemed to have an indomitable spirit. When things were not going well for the WI, it seemed to bring out the best in him.” He was a batsman with all the shots in the book. His 98 vs England was brilliant. He played well against pace and spin. He scored 125 at the QPO vs Barbados with Marshall, Garner and Clarke.

 He was a shot maker. He was not afraid to take on the best. He concentrated better when the WI was under pressure.”

 

Logie also happens to be the Godfather of Grays elder son, “So you know I think highly of him.” Gray expounds, “He is a tremendous example of what we should expect from our ambassadors.” Gray explains that Logie has comported himself well over the years as a cricketer and Coach. “Somebody who has forged young players and coached the Women’s team. He has humanistic qualities and has always shown great sportsmanship. He sacrificed his own position so Keith Arthurton could play in Australia. These are the qualities we want in our ambassadors.  He is the Godfather to my son Daniel because of these qualities."

 

Gray believes that one of the reasons that Logie is such a highly principled and successful individual is due to his upbringing. “He is disciplined. He had to mind the goats. Before going to school he had to do his chores. He had to travel from Sobo Village to the Oval with his bag. He was the best fieldsman in the world. People don’t understand his contributions to the game as a cricketer both on and off the field.”

 

Gray continues, “I think that somebody like that with his comprehensive experiences from around the world should be involved with WI cricket in whatever capacity. We need to draw on the experience of our role models. He could help with the resurgence of WI cricket.”

 

                                             Passionate and a Work Ethic Second to None

 

Former National Coach and allrounder, Kelvin Williams (TT, MCC, Middleton, Northumberland), refers to Logie as “A very stylish batter who could adapt to any situation required to play as a cricketer. He was very passionate when representing the WI and TT.”

 

Williams says there are two innings that comes to mind when he thinks of Logie, “The first for me was in 1981when he scored 125 at the Oval vs Barbados. It was his first hundred at regional level. Garner, Clarke and Marshall were some of the bowlers in that match. The second was against Australia in the Tri Nation Series (Australia, Pakistan, WI, 1984), when he scored 88. The game seemed to be getting away from the WI and there was a partnership between him and Dujon.” The WI overhauled the Australia total of 212 with six wickets in hand.

 

“Gus came to coach the Trinidad & Tobago Red Force in 2015. I was his Assistant Coach for that period. His work ethic was second to none. His ambitions and plans moving forward if grasped with both hands, his years of coaching would be more successful as it were.”

 

                      No to the South African Rand and ‘Thank You Very Much’ to the Australians

 

During his playing days it was the norm for the top players around the world to get offers to play in Apartheid South Africa. No one was more in demand than the top WI players. He explains that during the 1983 WC, an offer was made to the WI team to come afterwards. A blank cheque was offered to the team. However, it was declined. “Let’s put it this way. We put a figure but never got to it.”

 

Viv Richards in his biography mentions that he wished he could have been more like Logie in terms of handling sledging. His response to say the least was unusual. No matter the insult, he would simply say “Thank you very much.”

 

Logie laughs, “They wanted to take you off your game. You could lose focus. I would not allow them to do that. My reaction was to get them more upset. Rodney Hogg would be bowling to you and you might not play it in the middle of the bat, he would call you a bastard. I would say ‘Thank you.’ I had no problem with that. The same guys after the game would invite you for a drink. Some guys wouldn’t do that at all. You just talked about my mum like that why should I have a drink with you?

 

“It was agreed during the Australia Series that to foster a better relationship with the opposition that after each day’s play depending on who was in the field, the other team would visit to have a drink and a chat; however, many players found it difficult to abide by such. Their response was that the sledging and the nature of it bordered on disrespect to one’s person and family at times and the notion that they wanted to kill you on the field. The chant from Bay 13 when Dennis Lillie came in was ‘Lillie, Lillie, Kill, Kill, Kill.’

 

“The rules are different now so things don’t get out of hand. However, you sometimes developed friendships afterwards because of the manner of your response.”                                                          ​

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                                                                       Mother knows best

                                                                          

Had he not been a successful cricketer and coach, he believes that he would have been an accountant, as in his early days he worked in the Accounting Department for the Antilles Credit Company.

 

“I never told anyone this before but as an 18-year-old, I was visited at my home in Sobo by my teammate, Ramkaran Ramperass, a brilliant wicketkeeper/batsman (WI Youth Team/TT). He drove a red RX7, and it was parked on the Sobo Main Rd., as I lived on a small track away from the main road, called Foxhole. He came bearing gifts about a possible insurance job and just maybe I would be driving a car like his. Anyways, the commotion of seeing a such a vehicle in Sobo raised quite a few eyebrows at the time. After he left my mom,” who had heard the conversation, “said in her quiet but firm voice, ‘Please tell that young man you are not interested in his offer as God will bless you to have your own.’ I did as Mum requested. She was a wise woman.”

 

                                                                A Rude Awakening

 

He has no great regrets but “There is always something you felt you could have done. You hoped you could have got more support from the powers that be.” After touring Australia in 1988, “I saw the way they were preparing and the science {being used}. I felt if we had some of that in the Caribbean, we could have been better.”

 

Upon his return to the WI after the 1988 tour Down Under, “I came home and spoke with the WICB President, Clyde Walcott about implementing some of those things. The general comment was ‘What was the result? Didn’t you still beat them?’ They thought they would just continue to produce Richards and Lara and so on. The got a rude awakening.”

 

Logie explains, “In 1995 I came home from Australia and did an interview in Bim and told them that Australia was not coming to win the ODIs, they were coming to win the Series and dethrone the WI. When I said it a guy in Bim said ‘He must have been afraid of the Australians. What does he know?’ But that is exactly what happened. We lost the Series but won the One Days.”

 

                                                                From Rags to the West Indies

 

The world knows him as Agustine Lawrence “Gus” Logie but those close to him in Sobo refer to him as ‘Rags.’ “I got the nickname from my brothers. When I was a baby, we didn’t have today’s pampers. My mother would wrap me in little white diapers. She would wash them and hang them to dry but before they were ready again, I would dirty one. She would run out of diapers and put me in a little rag. My brothers would say ‘What kind of rags you putting on the child?’ People in Sobo would call me Rags or Raggie.”

 

                                                 Sobo’s Greatest Son Living a Second Life

 

In a country where many communities have honoured their sporting heroes with a pavilion or a ground, etc., surprisingly, Sobo’s greatest son has received none of this. “There was some talk years ago about naming a pavilion in my name. But I was never approached and in any case, I am not about such {things}.

 

Appointed Coach of the Bailey’s Bay Cricket Club in Bermuda in 2022, he continues to contribute to that country’s cricketing program.

 

Diagnosed with Colon Cancer in 2022, he says it was caught early and he is doing well. “I spent three weeks in the hospital and had

two operations. I am told that I am living a second life.” He thanks the fans for their support.

 

His two sons were decent sportsmen with Giovan playing soccer for the University of Waterloo in Canada and Aaron playing cricket

for the Eastern Counties in Bermuda. “He could bowl spin and bat well.” However, he admits the did not push him. “They are both bookworms and have their Master’s Degrees.” His daughter Aaria is a Special Needs individual and her parents’ “Pride and joy.”

 

                                               A Cricketer, A Coach, An Author

 

MATTERING IN CARIBBEAN SPORT, a book co authored by Logie and Dr. Olivia Rose was released in late May of this year. It focuses on what it

is for an athlete to matter within the realm of Caribbean sport, attempting to shed some light on the profound impact of recognition,

kindness and support for athletes who dedicate their lives to representing the region. This is done by focussing on two of the region’s popular sports Track and Field and Cricket.

 

There are stories from various Jamaican Olympic Track & Field athletes as well as a contribution from Logie as well. There is an emphasis that Caribbean athletes regardless of their international achievements deserve to feel valued and respected. They should be treated with kindness and dignity, recognizing that their contributions go beyond medals, trophies or scoring runs. This is actually Logie’s second book, the first, BUILDING CHAMPIONS, A MOTIVATIONAL PRESENTATION, was released in 2019.

 

For almost a decade and a half, Gus Logie entertained the world with his

batsmanship and dazzling fielding ability. For the last 30 odd years, he

has imparted his knowledge to young cricketers following the principles

that he adhered to during his playing days, that of dedication, decorum

and selflessness. And above all – the team comes first.

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